Back to EveryPatent.com
United States Patent |
5,773,813
|
Duchon
,   et al.
|
June 30, 1998
|
Angular position finding system for an observation instrument
Abstract
Angular position finding system for an observation instrument, possibly
fitted with a sighting change mirror and which includes one or two
reflecting mirrors and one or two alignment sensors. Light patterns are
produced both on the instrument and on the alignment sensor and are
reflected by the mirror to the alignment sensor where their positions are
detected. The orientation of the mirror, and indirectly the orientation of
the instrument, can be deducted. Furthermore, if the alignment sensor is
equipped with a device for determining an absolute orientation reference,
the orientation of the instrument with respect to this reference may also
be known.
Inventors:
|
Duchon; Paul (Venerque, FR);
Otrio; Georges (Auzielle, FR)
|
Assignee:
|
Centre National d'Etudes Spatiales (Paris, FR)
|
Appl. No.:
|
652550 |
Filed:
|
August 1, 1996 |
PCT Filed:
|
December 9, 1994
|
PCT NO:
|
PCT/FR94/01441
|
371 Date:
|
August 1, 1996
|
102(e) Date:
|
August 1, 1996
|
PCT PUB.NO.:
|
WO95/16219 |
PCT PUB. Date:
|
June 15, 1995 |
Foreign Application Priority Data
Current U.S. Class: |
250/206.2; 244/3.18; 250/203.2; 356/139.01 |
Intern'l Class: |
H01J 040/14 |
Field of Search: |
250/203.7,203.6,203.1,203.5,206.1,206.2,203.2
244/3.16-3.18
359/209-212
356/139.01,148
|
References Cited
U.S. Patent Documents
4173414 | Nov., 1979 | Vauchy et al. | 356/149.
|
4349838 | Sep., 1982 | Daniel | 250/203.
|
4740682 | Apr., 1988 | Frankel | 250/203.
|
Primary Examiner: Le; Que
Attorney, Agent or Firm: Oblon, Spivak, McClelland, Maier & Neustadt, P.C.
Claims
We claim:
1. Angular position finding system for an observation instrument onboard a
space vessel, said instrument including a focal plane and, optionally, an
instrument mirror, changing a sighting direction of the instrument, said
system comprising:
a source of a first light pattern located on the observation instrument
proximal to said focal plane, and consisting of at least two points of
light:
a light sensor fixed at a predetermined orientation on said space vessel;
and
a reflecting mirror at a constant position with respect to one of said
instrument mirror and said light sensor, the reflecting mirror being
placed so as to reflect light from said source to said light sensor.
2. Angular position finding system according to claim 1, further including
a second light pattern source at a constant position with respect to the
light sensor, the reflecting mirror being placed so as to reflect light
from the second light pattern source to the light sensor.
3. Angular position finding system according to claim 1, wherein at least
the first light pattern is composed of the ends of a divergent beam of
illuminated optical fibers.
4. Angular position finding system according to claim 1, wherein the light
sensor is used with a star sensor which is rigidly attached thereto.
5. Angular position finding system according to claim 1, wherein the light
sensor is capable of detecting stars.
6. Angular position finding system according to claim 5, wherein the light
sensor includes a half-mirror reflecting a first category of wavelengths
and transparent to a second category of wavelengths, the stars which are
detected by the light sensor emitting light of one of the categories and
the source emitting light of another one of the categories.
7. Angular position finding system according to claim 2, wherein the
reflecting mirror consists of two plane facets forming an angle, and each
of which receives one of the light patterns.
8. Angular position finding system according to claim 1, wherein the
reflecting mirror is rigidly attached to the sighting change mirror.
9. Angular position finding system according to claim 8, wherein the
reflecting mirror is formed on the surface of a hole in the sighting
change mirror.
10. Angular position finding system according to claim 2, wherein the
instrument mirror is rotatable and the reflecting mirror is fixed on the
space vessel and includes at least one facet extending perpendicular to an
axis of rotation of the rotatable instrument mirror and reflecting the
first light pattern source to one side of the axis of rotation of the
instrument mirror, and one facet approximately perpendicular to said axis
of rotation and reflecting the second source.
11. Angular position finding system according to claim 1, further including
a second reflecting mirror, the two reflecting mirrors being fixed on the
space vessel and each consisting of a facet extending perpendicularly to
an axis of rotation of the instrument mirror and each reflecting the first
light pattern source to one side of the axis of rotation, and a second
light sensor fixed predetermined direction on the space vessel, to which
the second reflection mirror reflects the first light pattern source, the
reflecting mirrors and light sensors being placed so that the light
sensors successively receive light from the first light pattern source
when the instrument mirror rotates in a rotational span and through an
overlap span included in the rotational span, the light sensors both
receiving light from the first light pattern source when the instrument
mirror rotates in the overlap span.
12. Angular position finding system according to claim 11, wherein the
light sensors are star sensors with stellar observation axes that form an
angle of at least 45.degree..
13. Angular position finding system according to claim, 2, wherein the
light sensor has a rectangular shaped sensitive area, and the light from
the first light pattern source passes along a diagonal of this surface as
a function of the rotation of the sighting change mirror.
14. Angular position finding system according to claim 13, wherein the
reflecting mirror is oriented so that light from the second source is
reflected on the sensitive surface away from the diagonal of the first
source.
15. Angular position finding system according to claim 1, wherein the
observation instrument with a instrument mirror is used together with a
mobile screen with apertures in front of the instrument mirror.
16. Angular position finding system according to claim 15, wherein the
mobile screen with apertures is tensioned on two rollers, and cables
having a same linear mass as the screen are tensioned on the opposite
sides of the rollers.
17. Angular position finding system according to claim 16, wherein the
cables and the screen are tensioned in a cross pattern on the rollers.
18. Angular position finding system according to claim 16, wherein the
cables are tensioned on the rollers by means of pulleys that rotate around
said rollers and are linked to the rollers by springs.
Description
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
1. Field of the Invention
The invention concerns an angular position finding system for an
observation instrument, and in particular may be incorporated into an
artificial satellite, a space vehicle or a space station.
2. Description of the Background
In particular, observation instruments may need to take pictures that have
to be located with very high precision. The position and orientation of
the instrument on the element that acts as a support are frequently not
known sufficiently precisely. Furthermore, it is often necessary or useful
to provide sighting change systems, in other words instruments that modify
the orientation of the line of sight of the observation instrument. These
instruments are required whenever it is disadvantageous or impossible to
rotate the entire instrument support machinery, or when it is impossible
to wait until the instrument has reached its required orientation by
natural means, which occurs periodically on unstabilized satellites.
Sighting change equipment acts on the observation instrument either by
displacing the instrument itself, or by moving its line of sight (this
solution is frequently used on satellites). The instrument then consists
of a rotating mirror.
Any sighting change equipment introduces an additional uncertainty in the
orientation of the line of sight, due to uncertainty about its mounting
position or about the precision of its control, which for example can
produce an uncertainty in the orientation of the sighting change mirrors.
Finally, expansions caused by temperature changes can deform instrument
support structures, particularly on satellites exposed to very large
temperature differences between the surface illuminated by the sun and the
surface in the shade.
All these circumstances explain why it is impossible to adjust the line of
sight of observation instruments with a precision better than about two
hundred seconds of arc, which corresponds to a positioning uncertainty of
eight hundred meters on the ground for a satellite at an altitude of eight
hundred kilometers, although the satellite itself can be located within a
few tens of meters. This difference shows that improving the location of a
view on the ground depends above all on the quality of orientation of the
instrument or its line of sight.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
This invention is designed specifically to eliminate this problem of
directional inaccuracy by means of a system which, in its most general
form, includes a first light pattern source rigidly attached to the
instrument close to the focal plane of the instrument and consisting of at
least two dots; a light sensor fixed at a know direction on the space
vessel to which the instrument and the system are fixed; and a reflection
mirror positioned to reflect light from the source to the sensor the
mirror being rigidly attached either to the sensor or to the sighting
change mirror (if there is one).
The position of the image of the light pattern on the sensor expresses the
instrument orientation. If the system does not include any other
particular elements, the orientation of the reflecting mirror (which must
not be confused with the sighting change mirror) must be accurately known,
which for example is possible if it is mounted carefully on a support
rigidly attached to the sensor.
In particular, the light sensor may consist of a star sensor which is
fairly frequently used in satellites. It then provides its own directional
reference by detecting the image of reference stars at the same time as it
detects the image of the light pattern, and compares the position of the
two images on its screen. The directional reference may also be completed
by a gyroscopic assembly, which is then rigidly attached to the light
sensor.
Other uncertainties can arise if the direction of the reflecting mirror is
not known accurately. This is why it may be necessary to use a second
source rigidly attached to the light sensor and which outputs a second
light pattern, the light from which is returned by the reflecting mirror
to the sensor, and the position of the image of this second pattern is
added to the sensor direction reference and to the position of the pattern
emitted by the instrument to give the direction of the instrument with an
accuracy which is no longer affected by uncertainties in detection
resolution and the direction in which light patterns are projected, that
can easily be reduced to a very low level.
The invention may be used with some complementary improvements in its
preferred methods of embodiment. Firstly, the reflecting mirror may form
an angle and include two plane facets separated by an edge, with one facet
reflecting light from the first source and the other facet reflecting
light from the second source, so that the position of the sensor with
respect to the instrument is unimportant. If there is a sighting change
mirror and if the reflecting mirror is fixed, the reflecting mirror may
include a facet elongated perpendicularly to the axis of rotation of the
sighting change mirror and that reflects the light pattern from the first
source to one of the sides of the axis of rotation of the sighting change
mirror along which the light sensor lies. With this arrangement, the
sensor is located at the side of the instrument sighting trajectory and
therefore does not intercept it, and the light sensor is useful for a long
angular movement of the sighting change mirror.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
The invention will now be described in relation to these and other objects
and characteristics, with reference to the following appended figures
provided for illustrative purposes, without being restrictive:
FIG. 1 shows some essential elements of a first embodiment of the system
according to the invention,
FIG. 1a schematically shows the light sensor screen,
FIG. 1b represents a change to a detail in the first embodiment,
FIG. 2 shows installation of the light sensor,
FIG. 2a shows the formation of images on the light sensor screen,
FIG. 3 represents a reflecting mirror,
FIGS. 4a and 4b show details of another complete embodiment of the
invention, and in particular show reflecting mirrors according to FIG. 3,
FIG. 5 shows another way of making the invention, with a different
reflecting mirror,
and FIGS. 6 and 7 illustrate a mobile screen used in relation to the
invention.
DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS
In the embodiments which will be described, elements according to the
invention are assumed to be installed on an artificial satellite. We will
firstly look at FIGS. 1 and 1a. The observation instrument 1 is fixed on
the satellite and is shown partially, and in particular has an apparent
surface 2 which coincides with its focal plane and is fitted with an
observation sensor module 3 and four light emitting diodes 4 flush with
its surface (two light sources may be sufficient, as we will see later),
each emitting a laser light beam that can be recognized by the light
sensors. Two of the four diodes 4 are placed at the ends of the sensor
module 3, and the other two are placed on its sides at mid-distance from
the first two. It is advantageous to only use one emitting laser-diode 4
(shown on FIG. 1b) in front of a divergent beam of optical fibers 41, each
of which captures part of its light and leads to the same emission points,
at ends 42, such that the effect is the same.
An optical system 5 is placed in front of the observation instrument 1. It
is symbolized in the form of a focusing lens, but may be of any known type
depending on the needs and properties of instrument 1. One of its effects
is to defocus the rays output from diodes 4 to spread their light
according to rays 8 occupying a front with a wide surface.
A sighting change mirror 6 is placed in front of the optical system 5. This
mirror rotates about an axis of rotation 7 and its total movement may be,
for example, 30.degree.. Light rays originating from the observation point
moving along a line of sight L reach the instrument 1 after being
reflected by the sighting change mirror 6. Rays 8 are not necessarily
reflected on the sighting change mirror 6, since they pass through a hole
44 formed through it, or at the side of it. They are only reflected by a
second mirror, called the reflection mirror 9, which is rigidly attached
to the sighting change mirror 6 and which is fixed on one side of hole 44.
They reach a light sensor called alignment sensor 43 preceded by an
optical system 11 capable of converging beams 8 onto a sensitive surface
12 on the alignment sensor 10 formed of a rectangle, in this case a
square, of detectors 13 (FIG. 1a). A computer (not shown) built into the
alignment sensor 43 breaks down the image recorded globally by detectors
13 to deduce the global direction of the satellite, to which the alignment
sensor 43 is assumed to be fixed at a perfectly known direction. It is
fixed to a plate 45 connected to the satellite, to which a star sensor
(stellar sensor) 46 and a gyroscope 47 are also attached, and which output
a direction reference in a fixed coordinate system. This image analysis
does not cause any particular problems, since it is always possible to
choose different wavelengths for light from diodes 4 (for example 0.95
microns) and light corresponding to the wavelengths detected in instrument
1 (from about 0.4 to 0.9 microns, and from about 1 to 2 microns) if no
other information, such as the position or extent of respective images, is
available.
Sufficient information is always produced if each image comprises two
points, since a single point is not sufficient to detect all element
rotations which are responsible for its position on the sensitive surface
12. Therefore, in principle, light patterns forming images are formed from
a minimum of two points, and, in practice, it is often preferred to have
more: this is why the described solution uses four diodes 4.
Defocusing light from diodes 4 means that the reflecting mirror 9 remains
within the front of rays 8 for all rotations of the sighting change mirror
6.
FIGS. 2 and 2a provide information about making a sophisticated alignment
sensor 10 which can simultaneously act as a star sensor, but some of this
information may also be applicable to the previous alignment sensor 43. A
screen 14 is placed in front of the optics 11 of the alignment sensor 10
to blank off parasite light. A half-mirror 15 is recessed in screen 14
which consists of two horns, one of which 16 supporting half-mirror 15
lies along an extension of the optical axis of the alignment sensor 10,
and the other 17 is connected to the first and is located in front of the
half-mirror 15. The half-mirror 15 is used so that the alignment sensor 10
collects light forming images from two different directions. More
precisely, it is transparent to the wavelength of rays 8 from diodes 4
which pass through it, therefore passing through horn 16, but it reflects
the wavelengths from detected stars, the rays 18 of which therefore pass
through the other horn 17 to reach the alignment sensor 10. This other
horn may be equipped with a diode 4 wavelength filter, to immediately make
a distinction between the images mentioned above. Therefore, the
half-mirror 15 acts as a filter for each measurement direction, and makes
it possible to distinguish between images of stars and diodes 4 on the
sensitive surface 12 based on their colors, and with no possibility of
error.
A very advantageous embodiment of the invention will now be described with
reference to FIGS. 3, 4a and 4b. It illustrates the specific embodiment of
some of the above reasoning. The description of FIG. 1 remains applicable
concerning the observation instrument 1, the sighting change mirror 6 and
connected parts. But the system as described so far is not necessarily
sufficient since rotations of the reflecting mirror 9 about an axis
perpendicular to its reflection plane are not detected by alignment sensor
10. The alignment sensor 10 is fitted with two additional light emitting
diodes 19 (FIG. 2a) at the edges of the square of detectors 13, and the
rays 20 of which are directed towards the reflecting mirror 9 and are then
reflected by it and return almost to their starting point, on the square
of detectors 13. The image of this light pattern supplies the orientation
of reflecting mirror 9 by its position on the sensor square 13. It
consists of two points P20 that can easily be distinguished from the light
pattern P8 produced by the rays 8 originating from diodes 4 located on
instrument 1 and which is formed of four points, even if the light is of
the same wave length, since they are located on different areas of the
sensitive surface 12: the light pattern P8 moves along a line L8 depending
on the rotation of the sighting change mirror 6, the line possibly being a
diagonal of the square of detectors 13, and points P20 are away from it.
The reflecting mirror 56 for this embodiment is complex and is formed of
three different facets, one of which denoted 21 is an oblique sheet at
45.degree. and is designed to reflect rays 8 at a right angle. The other
two facets 22 and 23 are located approximately perpendicularly to the axis
of rotation 7 (at an angle which can however vary between about 60.degree.
and 120.degree. in practice), at the ends of the previous facet 21, and
which return rays 20 from diodes 19 to the star sensors and alignment
sensors 10a or 10b, of which there are two in this embodiment for reasons
which will be explained.
When the sighting change mirror 6 rotates, plots of the reflection of rays
8 intercepted by the optics of sensors 10a or 10b move over the entire
length of facet 21 which must have the consequent extension. Light plots
formed by them on the square of detectors 13 also move, and the problem
then occurs that easily available sensitive surfaces 12 are fairly small
compared with typical movements of the sighting change mirrors 6. This
problem is less severe if steps are taken to set out the square of
detectors 13 such that the light traces pass approximately from end to end
of a diagonal, in other words along line L8 in FIG. 2a.
Another method of making large movements for the sighting change mirror 6
compatible with the invention consists of duplicating the position finding
system: this solution is shown here, and is clearly visible on FIGS. 4a
and 4b, on which there are two different reflecting mirrors 56a and 56b
which reflect rays 8 in lateral and opposite directions parallel to the
axis of rotation 7, to two alignment sensors 10a and 10b approximately
facing each other.
In this embodiment, reflecting mirrors 56a and 56b are independent of the
sighting change mirror 6 and are related to the satellite body through
support surfaces 57a and 57b; they are parallel and slightly offset in
front of the sighting change mirror 6, in the transverse direction so that
the rays 20 that they return to alignment sensors 10a and 10b are not
intercepted by the other reflecting mirror 56, and in the longitudinal
direction to cover the entire angular movement of the sighting change
mirror 6. More precisely, in an extreme angular position of the sighting
change mirror, denoted 6i, a portion of the rays 8 occupying a beam 8i, is
reflected on the sighting change mirror 6 to form a light spot 58i, and is
reflected on the reflecting mirror 56b to form a light spot 59i close to
support surface 57b; the corresponding rays 8 are returned to the
alignment sensor 10b to form the diode image 4. When the sighting change
mirror 6 rotates, light spots 58 and 59 produced by reflections of the
useful part of the front of rays 8, move on the ray and on the elongated
facet 21b, for finally obtaining a situation in which they occupy
positions 58j and 59j (59j being close to the end of the elongated facet
21b opposite support face 57b), the position of the sighting change mirror
6 being denoted 6j and being located at the middle of the angular
movement. Obviously, rays 8 concerned are not the same as the rays
described above, but they are just as capable of forming the image of
diodes 4 on the sensitive surface 12 on the alignment sensor 10b.
Furthermore, other rays 8 simultaneously form spots 58k and 59k on the
sighting change mirror 6 and one end of the elongated facet 21a of the
other reflecting mirror 55a, which starts to be useful and to form an
image of diodes 4 on the corresponding alignment sensor 10a.
In order to understand how the optical system works, it is essential to
realize that rays 8 are reflected at all times on the entire elongated
facet 21a or 21b, but rays that are outside the light spot 59 are returned
at the side of alignment sensor 10 and are therefore lost, as a function
of the oblique angle applied to them by the angular position of the
sighting change mirror 6 and which appears in the form of a variable
component, to the left as shown on FIG. 4b (vertically beyond spot 58 and
horizontally beyond spot 59).
When the rotation of the sighting change mirror 6 is continued to the other
end of its movement at the position denoted 6m, the light spots move
towards positions 58m and 59m, 59m being at the other end of the elongated
facet 21a, and rays 8 no longer reach the other reflecting mirror 55b.
The fact that light from diodes 4 passes along the path in the opposite
direction to the light from observation instrument 1 (from the focal plane
of the instrument containing diodes 4, to the sighting change mirror 6)
guarantees the performance of the invention.
In a specific example, the sighting change mirror 6 has a total angular
movement of 30.degree., such that the line of sight L can be moved by
60.degree., which is close to the maximum of known satellite embodiments.
The sensitive area 12 will be selected to be a square of detectors 13 with
1024 image points along each side for an angle of vision of 26.degree.,
which means that the angle of vision is .sqroot.2.26.degree., namely about
37.degree. along a diagonal (line L8). Facet 21 is inclined of 45.degree.
on the axis of rotation 7, but this is not essential, nor necessarily s
the optimum. The sensitive surface 22 detects stars between orders of
magnitude of about -2.5 and +4.5, such that it is always possible to
locate at least one. Furthermore, there is an angle of about 60.degree.
between the lines of sight of stars (S on FIG. 2, corresponding to the
axis of the horn 17), and alignment sensors 10 (which could advantageously
be close to 90.degree., and which should be at least 45.degree.), in order
to be able to deduce the satellite orientation with optimum precision
using two alignment sensors 10 together, which is possible since each of
them can always see one star.
If the side of the square of detectors 13 is 19.5 mm, or if the side of
each image dot is 1.9 microns, light dots P20 and dots in pattern P8
appear in the form of spots which extend over two, three or four image
dots due to defocusing, aberration and diffraction. The optical system 11
is not designed to focus rays 8 perfectly, but rather to form small
separate light spots, each of which corresponds to the light from one of
the diodes 4. The center of gravity method used to estimate the position
of the spots, used on stellar sensors, is then used for each light spot
(originating from diodes 4, 19 and detected stars) to calculate the center
of the spot, equivalent to the projection of the associated light source
assumed to be a point. It is repeated on the centers of light spots from
diodes 4 to calculate the orientation of observation instrument 1. This
state of the art method is implemented by the computer using the alignment
sensor 10, and in nine cases out of ten gives an uncertainty of less than
10 seconds of arc for the direction of the line of sight.
This corresponds to an uncertainty of positioning on the ground equal to 40
m for a satellite at an altitude of 800 km. If the uncertainty of the
satellite position is 25 m, the quadratically accumulated uncertainty is
about 50 m, which should be compared with the value of 800 m found under
the same conditions if the invention is not used.
Other systems could be designed for the invention. Thus the reflecting
mirror could be smaller if the instrument is used without the sighting
change mirror. It is referenced by 25 in an embodiment of this type drawn
in FIG. 5, and consists of two facets 26 and 27 limited by an edge 28, the
first of which is designed to reflect rays 8 from diodes 4 on instrument 1
to alignment sensor 10 (with low field of vision unlike the corresponding
solution with the sighting change mirror), and the second part of which is
used to reflect rays 20 from diodes 19 in the alignment sensor 10.
Reference 29 indicates to a single screen that limits the field of vision
of the instrument and the parasite radiation that it receives. Rays 8
reflected by mirror 25, and rays 20 pass through a hole 55 which is formed
in it. As before, the direction of instrument 1 is estimated by measuring
the positions of the spots corresponding to the different diodes 4 and 19
on the sensitive surface of the alignment sensor 10, and correlating them
to the direction of the alignment sensor 10, deduced from a stellar
reference or another reference, or known in advance. Once again, diodes 19
and facet 27 may be omitted if the orientation of the reflection mirror 25
is well known.
These positions are even more precise, since under the same conditions as
in the previous embodiment, and particularly with the same alignment
sensor 10, the uncertainty of the orientation of the line of sight is now
only 3" of arc. We can immediately deduce that the uncertainty of
positioning on the ground is 12 m (due to the alignment error only) for a
satellite at 800 km, and 30 m (by quadratic accumulation), allowing for an
additional satellite positioning uncertainty of 25 m.
We will now describe another aspect of the invention. This is a system of
mobile screens for an optical observation instrument with a sighting
change mirror. FIG. 6 illustrates it in a construction using two of these
screens 30a and 30b, which consist of a membrane in which a hole 31 has
been cut out. The shape of the holes 31, elliptical in this case, and
their surface area are adapted to the width of the field of vision of
instrument 1. Since the screens are placed in front of the sighting change
mirror 6, they should be moved to correspond with it, and keep holes 31 on
the sighting field. Consequently, the membrane of each screen 30 extends
between two rollers 32 and 33, around which its ends are wound and at
least one of which is driven by a motor 34 and the other may be driven in
a similar way by another motor to form a redundant system.
Rollers 32 and 33 are connected to spindles 35 rotating in a support frame
36 (which also supports alignment sensor 10 and the hinge pin 7 of the
sighting change mirror 6), and a spring 37 applies a force along one of
the spindles 35 in a direction of rotation which always tends to tension
screen 30. Spring 37 may be helical or spiral and its stiffness is
sufficiently small so that it exerts a force which does not vary much with
rotations of the roller 33 on which it acts. If a motor 34 is used on each
roller 32 and 33, a spring 37 may also be fitted on each of rollers 32 and
33 in order to control one of motors 34 at a time, and to apply tension
along axis 35 which is not controlled.
Cables 38 are tensioned between rollers 32 and 33 parallel to screen 30,
and are preferably distributed on both sides of the screen. Their ends are
actually wound around pulleys 39, some of which (one per cable 38) are
mounted rigidly on axes 35, and the others are mounted slidingly along
axes 35 and are acted upon by springs not shown, similar to springs 37, in
order to tension cables 38 at the same time as screen 30.
The purpose of cables 38 is to simultaneously drive the two rollers 33 with
a single motor 34, and incidentally to provide dynamic compensation for
movements of screen 30.
When motor 34 rotates, screen 30 moves in one direction and cables 38 move
in the other direction, and this is why they are chosen to have similar
linear masses so that movement quantities of screen 30 and cables 38 are
balanced; strictly speaking, screen 30 should be ballasted in front of
hole 31 by reinforcements 40 to equalize the linear mass.
Note also that the directions of extension of screen 30 and cables 38 are
crossed as shown on the view in FIG. 6 (taken in the direction of axes
35). This then cancels out the kinetic moments of rollers 32 and 33, and
of pulleys 39 which rotate in opposite directions.
The kinetic moments of the sighting change mirror 6 and its motor (not
shown), and of motor 34, may also be canceled out, by applying the
principle described in French patent 93. 04953, which demonstrates that it
is only necessary to use an appropriate number of gear mechanisms, with
suitable tooth ratios and wheel masses.
Top